Kevin Harvick unfazed by changes at Dale Earnhardt Inc.

By SceneDaily Staff
Friday, October 03, 2008
$util.encode.html($content.photo.alt)

Jason Smith
Getty Images for NASCAR

TALLADEGA, Ala. – Richard Childress Racing’s Kevin Harvick says he isn’t surprised by the challenges facing Dale Earnhardt Inc.

DEI, which fields NASCAR Sprint Cup series teams for Mark Martin, Martin Truex Jr., Paul Menard and Regan Smith, learned this week that Menard is leaving the company at the end of the season for Yates Racing and taking sponsorship from his family’s Menards home-improvement stores along with him.

Martin, who announced in July the he is leaving next season for Hendrick Motorsports, also won’t return, and the same appears likely for the U.S. Army, which is sponsoring the No. 8 car Martin is sharing this season with Aric Almirola. Almirola will drive the car full time next season.

The No. 01 of Smith has been unsponsored all season and doesn’t have sponsorship lined up for next year. That leaves DEI with just one primary sponsor in place for next season – Bass Pro Shops on Truex’s No. 1 car. Also uncertain is the long-term future of Truex, who has been with DEI the longest of the team’s four current drivers. Truex reached a one-year agreement earlier this season to remain with the team through the end of 2009.

All the uncertainly comes less than a year since Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s much-publicized departure from the team for Hendrick Motorsports at the end of 2007.

“For God’s sakes, they let Dale Earnhardt Jr. go,” Harvick said Friday at Talladega Superspeedway when asked if he was surprised by DEI’s challenges. “That’s a tough deal to recover from when you let the most popular driver in the sport go from your organization. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. I think you’re just seeing the repercussions of that particular move, and it just keeps spiraling.”

Harvick says he is hopeful the organization founded by the late Dale Earnhardt can remain in Cup for a long time, though.

“Obviously you don’t ever want to see a team go downhill,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a good thing for the garage by any means. Obviously, I think that there has to be some control from the ownership of it to try to foresee these things coming and try to put some things in place to make it as good as possible, but I don’t know the ins and outs of how that particular company works, and I definitely don’t think it would be a good thing for the garage if Dale Earnhardt Inc. was not here.”

Comments

3 responses to "Kevin Harvick unfazed by changes at Dale Earnhardt Inc. ". Post a Comment.
  1. 1
    MARTIN said:
    Oct 4, 2008 at 5:03 PM

    From the day Junior left to today all has been said, no more to say.

    Report Abuse

    This feature is intended to allow you to report comments that are abusive in terms of foul/vulgar language, harassment, racial/religious prejudice and any words/phrases of a related nature. This feature should not be used to report users who simply make a comment about your favorite driver, with which you do not agree. Commenting is a forum in which we can all express our opinions. Reporting abuse of others should be done with this in mind.

    » Confirm Abuse Report
  2. 2
    Marie Edwards said:
    Oct 6, 2008 at 12:12 AM

    The facts speak for themselves if we care to listen.

    Report Abuse

    This feature is intended to allow you to report comments that are abusive in terms of foul/vulgar language, harassment, racial/religious prejudice and any words/phrases of a related nature. This feature should not be used to report users who simply make a comment about your favorite driver, with which you do not agree. Commenting is a forum in which we can all express our opinions. Reporting abuse of others should be done with this in mind.

    » Confirm Abuse Report
  3. 3
    RICHARD MILLER said:
    Oct 6, 2008 at 10:12 AM

    The ONLY thing with ANY value left at Dale Earnhardt Inc., is the NAME. Nothing else needs to be said on the subject, period!

    Report Abuse

    This feature is intended to allow you to report comments that are abusive in terms of foul/vulgar language, harassment, racial/religious prejudice and any words/phrases of a related nature. This feature should not be used to report users who simply make a comment about your favorite driver, with which you do not agree. Commenting is a forum in which we can all express our opinions. Reporting abuse of others should be done with this in mind.

    » Confirm Abuse Report

Post a Comment

Disclaimer: All comments are subject to filtering for language, and libelous content. Comments are intended to encourage spirited debate and discussion about the subject matter contained within the articles and ARE NOT intended for personal or demeaning attacks directed at other users. We reserve the right to remove any comments deemed inappropriate. Users who violate this policy may be banned from posting comments on the site.

Comment Preview

Feb 9, 2010 at 9:04 PM
You said:

You must login before you can post comments or rate content.

If you don't have an account you can create a free one here.

NASCAR Schedules

spd

Gatorade Duel 1

Daytona International Speedway
02:00 PM, 02/11/2010

Poll PositionView All

After qualifying and the Budweiser Shootout, who is the favorite to win the Daytona 500?

Promotions

  • Tweet your thoughts about each race and join the conversation with other fans.

  • Drive an authentic NASCAR Sprint Cup car at the NASCAR Racing Experience.

Don't have an account yet?

Insiders Guide to NASCAR

Register with SceneDaily.com and get access to the following features:

  • FREE Insider’s Guide to NASCAR (available as a PDF download)
  • Daily NASCAR news updates delivered directly to your e-mail
  • Pre-race and Post-race emails delivered each race week
  • Ability to comment on blog and news articles
  • Information on new website features and upcoming contests
Create my Account

Login

Forgot Password?
Login or Create an Account